Lost 2x14 "One of Them"

Alright, here goes another one. I've actually had this written since Thursday, but I made the mistake of first putting it down on paper instead of just typing it out. And since procrastination is one of the few things at which I truly excel, here's the post early Sunday morning.

Overall, a very good episode, I thought. It felt very much like the more mysterious and enchanting episodes of the first season. It didn't drag, the flashbacks were relevant, and the mysteries and interpersonal connections of the characters were furthered. I couldn't have really asked for anything more. Ok, anything more except answers. But getting strung along is a weird sort of fun in and of itself.

Anywho, on to my little list of observations:

• The American military commander is Kate's dad. Well, stepdad, I guess. But it's him. When they're all riding in the truck at the end of the episode, he's looking at a picture of Kate as a child.
• The US Army apparently took an interest in Sayid because he spoke such good English. That's fine, it makes sense. But where did he learn such good English? I'm no expertologist, but I don't imagine very many Republican Guardsman in the early 1990s had the benefit of a Western education.
• Hurley stealing food? Not cool. But, at least it's not as wasteful as using it for target practice. Besides, looks like all he really had were condiments.
• I'm pretty positively convinced that Henry Gale is an "Other." His name and story seem like a rather overt reference to the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy's last name was Gale, she had an Uncle Henry, and a hot air balloon played an integral part in the story.
• Sawyer's a dick, but only because he's really working hard at it. Too hard, I think. The frog kinda proved that to me. I think he's gonna snap one day and just have a breakdown.
  
• Since when would Locke actively aide in the torturing of another human being? He's been doing some dramatically uncharacteristic shit lately. Is this supposed to be the true basis of the character? Complete and utter unpredictability? If so, that's kinda scary.
• So, zero is the absolute end count on the dead-man's-switch. Those glyphs looked to be some sort of buffer between fucking up and really fucking up. I kinda get the feeling that had Locke not put the numbers in right when he did, those blast doors would have come shooting down and some crazy kind of badness would have happened. It's a shame that we'll probably have to wait until next season to find out. Oh, and here's a picture of the glyphs.
  
• Ok, so what was the CIA officer's reason for using Sayid? From the end of the episode, it's pretty obvious that the guy spoke fluent Arabic, so why count one captive enemy soldier to interrogate another? I guess he could have just had Sayid do it because torture is technically illegal, but since he wasn't doing anything to stop it, that reason doesn't seem likely. Was he trying erode Sayid's loyalty? Maybe; that did seem to be something they talked about an awful lot. But for what purpose? It just seemed odd. I wouldn't be surprised if the CIA guy shows up again at some point.
• Here's another thing about the end of the ep that kinda irked me: what the hell was Sayid up to for the next 12 years? I'm assuming the plane crashed on the date that the pilot was aired, but the flashback, here, took place during Operation Desert Storm way back in 1991. With his new "skill set," was Sayid still working for Saddam for all of those years? I think the obvious answer is no, since he seems to have already gotten out by the time the current war began, but they don't really offer any explanation. The only little clue that might be out there is that footage of him on the TV in the background of Kate's dad's recruiting office in "What Kate Did;" not really a hell of a lot there, though.
• Also, didn't anyone wonder how and why Sayid could be wandering in from the desert with at least $1000 USD on him? I don't recall that being in the SOP for the processing and release of prisoners of war.
• Speaking vaguely of military stuff, I'm quite impressed that the producers of the show got the Desert Storm era desert uniforms right. That particular pattern of camouflage (6 color) was phased out and retired soon after the war. The US Army has been using a simpler (3 color) design since at least 1993. Would have been an easy thing to overlook, but instead goes to show just how much thought and attention to detail really does go in to Lost.

Anywho, that's it for now. Leave a comment if you've got anything to add or refute.

Cya!

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